The Beastly NFC North & Jahmyr Gibbs Preview
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 6 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 28, 2026
Published
Tue, July 28, 2026
0
Player insights
0
Players mentioned
Player analysis
Player insights
No player insights have been extracted for this episode yet.
Full transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00It's the Harris Fantasy Football Podcast with your host, Christopher Harris.
0:03Hey everybody, welcome in. My name is Chris. This is a show about sports.
0:08Hello there everybody. Thank you so much for listening to this little podcast that could.
0:13It's Tuesday, July 28th, Almanac Day, six days away.
0:16The 2026 Harris Football Player Profile Almanac comes out this coming Monday.
0:19It's a PDF. It is, I think, 299 pages exactly.
0:23It's 232 players profiled. I've been working on it basically every day since the beginning of May.
0:28I think I can say it's done. I'm not going to work on it today.
0:33That's my resolution for you today. We've got all the new art in there.
0:37I just wrote the very last profile from scratch.
0:40That was Stefan Diggs, who as of my recording this does not have a team.
0:45I was waiting before I wrote his profile, but I could wait no longer.
0:49And of course, that's going to change and many, many things are going to change between now and Labor Day weekend, which
0:56is why right before Labor Day weekend, if you purchase the Almanac now, you'll get a complete update, a second version with
1:03changed ranks and with profiles rewritten where appropriate. Many, many profiles will have like crossouts and rejiggerings and stuff like that.
1:10The Almanac has research projects. It's got cousin Josh weighing in on players.
1:14It's got every ounce I could squeeze out of watching film on a couple hundred players.
1:19Plus, it's got ranks that you won't find at harrisfootball.com.
1:22Dynasty ranks, super flex ranks. They're in the back of the book as well.
1:27And let me read you a profile, shall I?
1:30We're talking NFC North on the show today. How about my number one overall pick in most formats?
1:35Let's talk about the profile of one Mr. Jameer Gibbs.
1:38It goes something like this. How can you tell Gen Z will turn out okay?
1:43We could point to political polling, tolerance activism, or the blessed rejection of Marvel movies.
1:48But I'll take one hilarious data point. They hate the hell out of AI.
1:52This spring, a bunch of wealthy boomers got up in front of graduating classes at colleges and high schools and mirthlessly read
1:59the same scripts they used to brainwash each other.
2:02About how young people must embrace artificial intelligence or be left behind.
2:06So shielded are these elderly losers from what people actually think of the plagiarism machine.
2:11They were universally shocked to receive lusty booze. We self-evidently live under a cacistocracy where society is run by the worst, least qualified, most unscrupulous people.
2:19And these people are accustomed to their bubbles in which their bullcrap is never questioned.
2:24Meanwhile, Gen Z only knows a world in which endless cycles of Silicon Valley hype express contempt for humanity and circumstantial evidence
2:31seems to indicate these young people hate it. Good for you kids.
2:35When all you have is the occasional ability to humiliate these feckless masters of the universe, please keep doing it.
2:41I'm not sure about Jameer Gibbs' stance on AI, but I do find him to be a good stand-in for his generation.
2:48He's audacious and talented, headstrong and possibly lacking a little something in the toughness department.
2:53Nobody has the stop-foot-go-foot like Gibbs. His cutback ability is historically elite.
2:57Watch Week 12 against the Giants and you'll see three separate home runs, including the overtime game winner, in which Gibbs made
3:04a move in the backfield, then just exploded. He had six runs of 40-plus yards, most in the league.
3:10The trade-off for this combustibility is that Gibbs does hunt big plays to an uncomfortable degree.
3:15And in 2025, as the Lions' offense writ large became less consistent, we got a few stinker stat lines.
3:21Gibbs got over 97 scrimmage yards in half his games last year, but he failed to reach 70 yards six times and
3:28was mostly a no-show in the fantasy playoffs. The big news for 26 is that David Montgomery is gone from Detroit with
3:35typewriter feet, Isaiah Pacheco, joining to be Gibbs' understudy.
3:38The Sonic and Knuckles thing was fun, but had run its course.
3:41The moment the Lions' O-line got banged up and mortal, Montgomery's pinball act grew less charming, and by season's end, Gibbs had
3:48become the clear choice inside an opponent's five. I can't promise that'll be the case for the entire upcoming season, but given
3:55that Pacheco was routinely pulled for Kareem freaking Hunt near the end zone, I tend to think Gibbs gets first try.
4:02But that's not why he's my number one running back.
4:05However much I'd like to argue that Gibbs is now a potential goal-line touchdown maker, bigger guys like Bajon Robinson and Jonathan
4:12Taylor have a greater claim to that work. No, the reason I'd take Gibbs ahead of everyone else is I find him
4:19just slightly more convincing as a weak winner. Fantasy football production is more spread out than ever.
4:24Everyone at every position can give you like 50 scrimmage yards.
4:28The truest differentiation comes in the form of massive plays.
4:31Bajon, Taylor, McCaffrey, Cook, Saquon, they're all explosive, but nobody is quite Gibbs.
4:35So that's how that goes. I, of course, know that I am also mentioning this new novel that I've got coming out on September 1.
4:43It's a summer where I'm trying to ask you to buy two things.
4:47That's a lot of things. I'm sorry. I apologize.
4:50Pound Foolish is my book. It's in the process of being rolled out as a pre-order.
4:55I think you can pre-order the e-book right now, the, you know, the read it on a digital reader.
5:01I don't think you can pre-order the audio book or the paperback just yet, but hopefully that's happening soon.
5:07You may or may not know that I am publishing this book myself.
5:11Cumulative Press. It's a joke, but it's not a joke.
5:15It's so hard. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to make it happen all in time, and I'm going to do a tour.
5:23That'll all be announced real soon. But anyway, so I know some people don't have the luxury of buying any extra things.
5:30That is absolutely fine. Please don't feel like I am judging you or anything.
5:34I'm so happy to have you listening. If you're just able to listen, that's so fantastic.
5:39The podcast is about to switch back onto full-time mode.
5:43I'm really pumped about that. Next week, shows will be Monday through Friday.
5:47That goes all the way through the end of the season.
5:50And, you know, we're in the mode of talking about your fantasy draft and trying to figure out how we really feel,
5:57which players we're going to be after, and, you know, doing the best we can on our draft rooms.
6:03Our old favorite guests will all be back in the saddle again as we talk through the 2026 NFL fantasy draft season.
6:10It is all happening. It's all very fun. You can keep track of all of it at harrisfootball.com.
6:16Today's kickoff. Okay, on today's show, let's keep the fun rolling.
6:19We're on our seventh of eight shows in July.
6:22We're previewing training camps, some really good offenses in the NFC North.
6:26I wonder how many situations we should be flexible on and, you know, willing to change ranks over, depending on what happens,
6:33compared to letting the noise go in one ear and out the other.
6:37Well, let's talk about that. Let's talk about the teams of the NFC North.
6:42That is, of course, the Bears, Packers, Vikings, and Lions.
6:45To help me with that will be Jeff Erickson from Rotowire joining the show.
6:49I think you'll have a great time listening. I'm very, very lucky to have you listening today.
6:55We are sponsored by Trust and Will. Some things in life, we put them off.
6:59We know we should take care of them. And, you know, then they're taken care of.
7:05And putting together a trust or a will is one of those.
7:08Take a deep breath. Realize Trust and Will can help you.
7:12I don't have kids, but I still wanted to put together an estate plan to take care of other members of my family.
7:19If you do have kids, all the more important that you just do it.
7:24File it away. Get the peace of mind. Trust and Will offers affordable attorney-designed estate plans online that you can create in as little as 30 minutes.
7:32They make it really easy. It was easy for me.
7:35Assign guardians for your kids, asset distribution, healthcare planning.
7:38Something we should do. I'm relieved to have stopped putting it off.
7:42Seriously, give it a look. Trust and Will has thousands of five-star reviews.
7:46Attorney support is available. Let's never have our loved ones have to face the burden alone.
7:51Trust and Will affordable estate plans. Priceless peace of mind.
7:54Go to trustandwill.com slash Harris and get 20% off.
7:57That's trustandwill.com slash Harris to get 20% off. Trustandwill.com slash Harris.
8:01Today's guest. His name's Jeff Erickson. Jeff Erickson. And he tries to listen to Jeff Erickson.
8:06You know his name. Stop saying the other name.
8:09Never, ever tell him that he's the other name except for last night.
8:13I was on a Zoom with our mutual friend, Nick, who has left Los Angeles, Jeff.
8:18And he said, make sure to say hello to Eric Jefferson.
8:21This is writer Nick, correct? Yeah, correct. Writer Nick.
8:24All right. Excellent. Well, please say hello back next time you Zoom with him.
8:29Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know if we should.
8:32You're known now like so far and wide as Eric Jefferson because of your song.
8:37It just feels like maybe we should start snubbing people.
8:40You know, I do love it when I get a random, you're not Eric Jefferson.
8:45And I actually got that in person one time.
8:47That was beautiful. So your influence is far and wide.
8:51It really is. I mean, there's a power. There's calling you Eric Jefferson and there's nobody knows why they call it planting
8:58a flag on a player, but they don't realize that I, you know, we're old and I did it a long time ago.
9:05Other than that, that's it. That's the legacy. There you go.
9:08But no, of course not. We have a huge legacy to build today by discussing the teams of the NFC North.
9:15And that's, folks, what we call a segue. You can, of course, find out everything that Jeff does at rotowire.com.
9:21You can be a subscriber at Rotowire. That's a fun thing to be.
9:26I have a subscription there. It's lovely. And you can also find Jeff on all the socials, on Twitter, on Blue Sky.
9:32Just search his name. Jeff Erickson, not Eric Jefferson.
9:35So on Monday's podcast, which is a Yacht Club show and Paywall Andy, Andy Behrens was, of course, on with me as he always is.
9:43He did a list of five nonsense fantasy risers in August in which he nominated the names of five people who, you know, people talk about helium.
9:52Oh, these guys are going to get helium, but it's going to be based on nothing kind of thing.
9:58And I think like four of them are in this division.
10:01Yes. Yes. So that's the case. And in some cases, it's because this is going to be a fun division.
10:08I think it's also because Andy is a Bears fan and thus he is acutely aware of every single player in the NFC North.
10:15I think he's acutely aware of everybody. I think that's a good point.
10:19He is a very acutely aware man. Right. He was, he was, you know, maybe subconsciously thinking NFC North, but also I
10:26think just trying to figure out some names of dudes who he wasn't going to take the cheese on.
10:33And that's the mission of these July shows is to as much talk about news that we won't act on, news that
10:39we're not going to change ranks for and not engage in stupid social media stuff.
10:44And, you know, it's funny, like every, it's this meta conversation now.
10:48Tell me if you feel this pressure, Jeff, with your own football ranks where it's this meta conversation we're all having about wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
10:56I bet you there's going to be a bunch of nonsense that we're going to feel pressure to change our ranks on ha ha ha.
11:04And then the noise starts to get loud and people start to seem really serious about Matthew Golden or whatever.
11:11And, and there's a feeling of like FOMO. There's a feeling of like, I don't, you know, boy, I kind of thought
11:18I was going to get Matthew Golden. I might need to change my rank, even though nothing's materially changed.
11:24Like, I feel that I try not to act on it when I don't think it's based on a real thing.
11:30But do you feel that? Oh, of course I feel it.
11:34And then, you know, talking every day about these players, uh, you know, doing drafts.
11:39Uh, I know you're a notorious ADP ignorer or maybe not notorious is the right word.
11:44You're, you're a celebrated ADP ignorer. So that helps you a little bit, but you can, we track the changes and we
11:51hear about the changes and why is Quentin Johnson going 40 spots higher?
11:55You know, things like that. It, it, you know, yeah, I, I get all of that there and it's, it's a good thing.
12:02We're not doing an AFC West conversation because there's plenty of hype guys there.
12:06Uh, but yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. It happens. And it's human nature.
12:10It's really human nature. You can't, it, you want to put the, the blinders on, you want to put the earmuffs on.
12:17It's just hard to do hard. It gets, it seeps through regardless.
12:21So it does. You're right. I don't get the ADP stuff until for a couple of weeks from now, you know, like
12:28a two, two, three, I can't remember maybe three, three weeks from now, like mid August is when I'll crack it open and do a show about it.
12:37And, and, but in the meantime, hopefully talk about just players that I like and the, the pressure that I, I remember
12:44having a Dave Kluge conversation, like the first year he started coming on the show where we both acknowledged, like there's pressure to not look like a dope.
12:53There's pressure to not stand out too much like, okay, yeah, I don't really believe in, I mean, picking on Matthew golden.
13:00He was one of Andy's nonsense fantasy risers like, okay, I don't really want Matthew golden, but I don't want to look
13:07like a jackass if he really pops. So I'm going to, I'm going to calibrate my rank of Matthew golden to be
13:14a little below ADP, but not as much as it was when I first started thinking about it because then nobody can really yell at me.
13:22And we like Dave and I were both like, yeah, that's real.
13:26Like you, you get yelled at a lot in this job and you feel dumb for giving bad advice in this job.
13:33And you don't, you don't want to have like any super rough edges.
13:37You want to sand them all down. And my, I mean, obviously at this point, I don't care about the rough edges.
13:44I don't care anymore. So I'm not, I don't think that way really anymore, but of course that's out there.
13:50And, you know, I would encourage anybody listening to just not like nobody knows what's going to happen.
13:56And so like, just stick to what you think might happen and who cares?
14:00You know, that's my thing is who cares? Yeah.
14:03And I, you got to get to that point, but if you're, especially if you're trying to establish a foothold in this
14:10beautiful community that we have here, it's even harder to do that there to avoid what our mutual friend, Scott Pianowski likes
14:17to call the pretzel logic where we just twist ourselves and, you know, like you said, just a little bit below ADP,
14:24but a little bit higher than where you had it at.
14:28Yeah. Like, but why, but why, you know, he's, he still can't do this.
14:32So yeah, I get it. Well, and we don't know one way or the other.
14:37And there is always a feeling of like, wow, I'm taking a real stand and I didn't mean to take a stand.
14:44I say that all the time. Like I had no intention of taking a stand for positive or negative on these players.
14:51And I don't really know what's going to happen.
14:54So can I, can I somehow look a little less stupid if it doesn't happen by just, you know, adjusting a little bit.
15:01I think that's how people win the contest. You know, they look at what the average is and they go, okay, I
15:08need to be just a little bit higher on that guy, a little bit lower on that guy.
15:14And I just don't think that really serves anybody.
15:17So whatever. Let's talk about players. We will and won't change our ranks on when we get to these training camps, which,
15:24you know, in many cases have already started, but not really in earnest.
15:28And let's face it, the things we really care about are those joint practices where teams start to reveal their hands and
15:35their plans just a little bit more. Let's start with Andy Behrens' Bears.
15:39He talked about a couple of players. One in particular, though, he, we didn't talk about as a nonsense riser was like
15:46maybe not a player per se, but Ben Johnson and the hype that is very specifically Ben Johnson's because people keep desperately
15:53trying to map Bears players onto Lions players still.
15:56Yeah. Like who's the Amon Ra? You know, oh, you know, does that camp highlight mean that Luther Burden is the Amon Ra in that offense?
16:04The answer is no, because Amon Ra's better than those guys.
16:07Nobody's Amon Ra. But there will be there will be much sharing of highlights and continued trying to map of players on.
16:14I think the wise fantasy drafter won't do that and won't assume anybody's going to turn into the wide receiver six or whatever from this offense.
16:23It could happen. Are you, you know, tell me where you are on the two main Bears receivers and tell me if they have any August mobility?
16:31So it's Roma Dunze is the guy I'm going to pay attention to.
16:35And it's not because of the Ben Johnson mapping.
16:38It's because of the quote unquote new normal phrase that Roma Dunze said about his foot.
16:43That's got a lot of people wigged out and pushing Luther Burden up.
16:47I want to see, is he, is he practicing every day?
16:51You know, and these joint practices is Roma Dunze going to be doing everything that's he's supposed to be doing.
16:57So let's face it. Last year was frustrating. It was a very frustrating year to deal with that, that stress fracture in
17:04his foot, the reporting on it, the, is he going to play?
17:08Is he not going to play? Is he, is he, is he fully recovered now?
17:13Now he's had the off season. I can do everything I want.
17:17He says, but it's also the new normal. What does that mean?
17:21That's the thing I'm going to be trying to watch.
17:24And I don't know if we're going to actually learn anything.
17:27I'm not sure, you know, if in season reporting isn't going to be on top of this, I don't know why training camp reporting would be much better.
17:36And that's one of the things that we're just going to have to try to deal with a little bit more, but that's something that could change.
17:45If I see like in joint practices, well, he's sitting out the more series than the other receivers.
17:50Well, yeah, I'm going to be concerned about that.
17:53So tell me specifically, I don't know if you have your ranks in front of you, if you don't like get them
18:00out while I'm vamping for you right now, tell me specifically where you have Odunze and burden among fantasy wide receivers and your ranks heading into camp.
18:09I'm pulling them up right now. And, uh, you know, the thing is I do have burden ahead of Odunze just a little bit.
18:16Um, I don't think it's a numbers. Numbers. Pulling them up.
18:20Hold please for this very important. I'm the one.
18:23Hold. Hold. Hold. I'm the one, I'm the one who yells at everybody at our poker game too.
18:28So, uh, I've got it as 24 and 30 respectively.
18:32Okay. I'm a little higher, but I have Odunze higher 21 and 25.
18:36Okay. So, um, but this is why this is a relevant thing to pay attention to because of course this is definitely going on the list.
18:44Roma don't say Luther burden is not going to list for me.
18:48I don't need to see camp highlights about how my God, if we would put a lion's helmet on him, that would have been Amon Ra.
18:56Like, I don't really think that's going to happen.
18:59I don't think you can determine that kind of thing in training camp.
19:03Maybe we'll get that news in September and I will have gotten them in the wrong order.
19:08But of course, yes. Easy to easy thing to pay attention to.
19:12Easy reason to lower Roma don say for me out of the higher spot between the two of them would be, um,
19:19you know, it's this one quote that I'm sure by this point, Roma don say, which is he had never given about his foot.
19:27There was no reason for him to say anything that way about his foot, but he just blurted it out because he's
19:34a young guy and he didn't realize that it would be held against him until the end of time.
19:40And it could turn out that he's just fine.
19:43I mean, my assumption, obviously based on this rank will be that he is just fine, that it doesn't really mean anything
19:50that, you know, his foot isn't three quarters of the way towards falling off.
19:54It's fixed. He's going to be fine. He'll be able to do himself.
19:58We won't really be able to know that for sure until we get to September, but I will stick to my guns on this ranking.
20:06If he's there for every practice, if we stop hearing about it, if he doesn't need to miss stuff.
20:12So I'll ask you, obviously I have Odunze downward mobility.
20:15If he starts missing things, do you have Odunze upward mobility?
20:19If he doesn't miss anything? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I do.
20:22Uh, you know, I still think the talent is there.
20:25I still think, uh, you know, I, I don't really care about the pedigree as much because they're known quantities to their team.
20:33I, you know, he's not going to care who got drafted, where is so much as it's just like, I think Odunze can play.
20:40Uh, I, uh, the other assumption, by the way, Chris, is that with the trade of DJ more, all these extra targets
20:47are going to flow to these two receivers and we can kind of count on them being, you know, heavier volume.
20:54And I'm not sure that's necessarily true. That's it.
20:57So in these joint practices, how often are they, uh, you know, lining up in 12?
21:02And even 13, they spent a third round pick on the tight end.
21:06Um, you know, is this, is this something that is Roush going to see the field even some more often than not?
21:13Cause I think one thing that we know under Ben Johnson is that the bears run the ball very well.
21:19He is an excellent run game designer and that's not going to change.
21:23So I don't know if we're going to get this, you know, bounty of extra targets that we're hoping for.
21:30Yeah, but it's the NFL. That doesn't matter. I mean, you're not, you're not sitting there worrying and you're not doing stat.
21:37I know you're not doing like detailed stat projections saying, Oh, that deep, that, uh, joint practice featured a little more Kalief Raymond than I'm comfortable with.
21:45I need to give him 10 more targets. Like, you know, sure.
21:49Sure. What you're saying is possible in theory, but you're not going to learn that in training camp.
21:55They're probably right about that. And you're probably not going to learn about the usage of Xavier and Thomas either.
22:01You know, is he anything more than a gadget guy?
22:04You know, uh, that that's cause I, I, I'm viewing him just as a gadget guy and not even the number three.
22:11Um, and, but yeah, that, that there, it really, but Rome is the big thing I'm watching the running backs.
22:18How high, how high can he go? How high can a dozen they go in your receiver list?
22:23If he's 31 now, uh, he has a go clean like 19.
22:27Okay. So he could go, he could really move up.
22:30All right. Well, that's something to watch. He'd go like in the Zay flowers, uh, lad McConkie range.
22:36I think he could go. I mean, it's the ranges.
22:39I keep saying this, but the range is like, I'll give you what the range is.
22:44The range is from, uh, Terrell McMillan to Khalil Shakir.
22:48Yeah, that's right. The range is 45 players or something, you know, just stupid.
22:52It's all the, and he could drop too, by the way, he could also still drop.
22:57He could go. Yeah. He could still drop them.
23:00Okay. So you start talking about the running backs.
23:03Um, I assume that we're going to learn anything about them.
23:06I mean, yeah. Just talk about that. Uh, well, it, I think people want to manifest.
23:11Is this the year that Monung guy takes more over for Swift?
23:15Just like, is this the year that Blake Corum takes over more for Kyron Williams?
23:20I don't think training camp is going to tell you that.
23:23Yeah, maybe, but how are you going to know?
23:26Right. Yeah. Barring an injury, of course, obviously, but that's a whole different story there.
23:31But, you know, Swift had his usage uses, uh, and so did Monung guy.
23:36Uh, there, I think they'll both get a lot of run.
23:39I think that's good. I don't think that's going to change a whole lot.
23:43I wish I had liked Monung guy's film more going back and watching it because I'm a notorious Deandre Swift.
23:50We call him zero around here. Um, cause he wore zero with the Eagles and he kind of was, um, he's, you
23:57know, I kind of feel like people want the other thing to happen still.
24:01I don't think there are tons of Monung guy enthusiasts out there, but I might be wrong.
24:07I don't have my ear to the ground on the bears backfield.
24:10Um, the larger point is if I had liked Monung guys film more, if I'd found him to be, I like him, I like him as a player.
24:19He's a, he's a tough, no nonsense run. You try to run you over.
24:24Not a huge guy, but like goes where the place is supposed to go.
24:28Physical dude just didn't really change directions. Well, didn't accelerate super well, you know, it isn't going to catch the ball too much.
24:36I don't think, um, don't, don't view him as any more of like a superstar than Deandre Swift's going to be a superstar.
24:43So I have pretty good distance between them and I, you know, I'm the last one who want to wants to do that.
24:50I have like Swift 23, Monung guy 37, but to your point, I don't know how barring injury, I don't know how that changes and can't.
24:58Right. And they didn't really, at least we're no longer going to have the, uh, the Roshon Johnson conversation.
25:04Uh, so at least we've got that going for us.
25:08We have, we know these, it's these two. We are sponsored again by wild grain.
25:12Stop what you're doing. Wild grain is so good.
25:15You're catching me right after a dinner this past weekend where I decided, you know, bread with dinner.
25:21I put a boulet from frozen into the oven from wild grain.
25:2525 minutes later, fresh bread, really fresh. Wild grain delivers you sourdough breads, seasonal pastries, and French butter, all made by small independent bakeries.
25:32Everything bakes from frozen and comes out fresh. Like you just got it at the bakery.
25:37It's crazy. And I should say these carbs are better for you because they're slow fermented and much easier on your gut, which I definitely care about.
25:46And you can customize your box with classic gluten-free vegan and protein options.
25:50The cookies, the pastries, insane. The bread so good.
25:53If you're looking for an easy way to enjoy bakery quality bread at home, try wild grain.
25:58More than 40,000 five-star reviews, including mine named USA Today's best food subscription box three years in a row.
26:04Get $30 off your first box and free croissants for life at wildgrain.com slash Harris.
26:09$30 off and free croissants in every box. You really should try it.
26:13Wildgrain.com slash Harris. We are back with Jeff Erickson.
26:16We are talking training camps of the teams of the NFC North.
26:20Let's talk about the Green Bay Packers. You know, very upsetting to everybody and especially this podcast who's made a lot of money on Josh Jacobs.
26:28The news that we need about Josh Jacobs is not going to come out of training camp, but it can potentially come in August.
26:36And it's obviously very important if we get word of charges actually being filed.
26:40Like I think the county officials did not file assault charges against Josh Jacobs when the alleged assault initially happened, but is
26:47holding out hope that, I don't know if it's hope, but holding out the possibility, the sort of Democles over Josh Jacobs.
26:54He's already dropped some because he has to, Jacobs does, because there looms the possibility of a suspension no matter what happens with the legal system.
27:03If he gets charged between now and Labor Day, he's going to drop lower because the possibility of a suspension increases even more.
27:10There is a world, of course, where the suspension only comes in 2027 and we don't have to worry about this year, but it's just, it's all gross.
27:19I guess maybe I'll ask you instead, cause you don't, you don't have any insight there, but does this cause you to
27:26pay more attention to what help happens with the other Packer running backs?
27:30Oh yeah. I've been, I compliment Marshawn Lloyd for a stay at the hamstring Institute.
27:35Um, you know, why he didn't do that earlier in his career.
27:38I don't know. It's like, there's a Reds player named Cabrian Hayes in baseball that when he was on the aisle, he did three days at driveline.
27:47Wish he had more time like an entire off season.
27:50Yeah. Okay. Um, that's nice. Uh, why, you know, why wasn't this a step addressed before?
27:55Maybe it's just the last thing. Like I know there's some comparison between him and, uh, you know, yeah, yeah.
28:02You know, the, the, the, I'm space. Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, his teammates, sorry.
28:07I'm just such a space cadet this morning, but Chris Brooks.
28:11No, no. Who also, we got news on him too.
28:14Christian Watson about the, you know, you know, how one leg slightly longer than the other.
28:19And that's why he's got all these hamstring issues and all that there, you know, there's a lot of that sort of
28:26noise going on with Marshawn Lloyd as well. We'll see about that.
28:30Uh, we just don't know. We just haven't seen him stay on for that long of a time.
28:36Ironically though, it is Brooks. That's on the non-football injury list right now.
28:40Not Lloyd, not, not Jacobs. It's Brooks. That's not practicing right now, but I will see that.
28:45I want to see Marshawn Lloyd is kind of like a poor man's Jonathan Brooks.
28:50Um, where like we're kind of banking on the idea of Chris, of Marshawn Lloyd and not really anything he's done as a professional.
28:57Yeah. Why is he the poor man's? Isn't he just the man's?
29:01Aren't they the same? I guess he went, he had less college hype.
29:05Nobody ever thought. He's not getting drafted the same way.
29:09I know you're not checking, but Jonathan Brooks has hype.
29:12Marshawn Lloyd does not. He was on Andy's list yesterday.
29:15So I do know that. I didn't know that until yesterday, but Andy said, yeah.
29:20I, Andy said, I tried to get out in front on Jonathan Brooks and talk about him on the show before the helium took place.
29:28And the helium has already taken place, which is there.
29:31Dave Canales said that Brooks could be a starter.
29:34So, I mean, you have coach speak. So that, that, that changes the equation.
29:38That's definitely real. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it, of course, this is definitely worth paying attention to.
29:43It is. It's going to go on the list of things to pay attention to.
29:48You know, there's a bunch of, there's Pierre Strong.
29:51There's a bunch of guys who knows, like this can go a bunch of different ways where it's all Jacobs and it's fine.
29:58And he's a really good player and we get value and he never gets suspended at all, but we're not going to know that.
30:06That's going to be looming over. The possibility is going to be looming over him when you draft him.
30:12No question. And then, hey, the Packers could realize something bad for him is coming down the pike and trade for James
30:19Connor or trade for Alvin Camaro or whatever. You know, like they, they could actually get another legitimate guy in there and that totally changes the equation.
30:27None of which we can know beforehand, but I, I'm a hundred percent on board with paying attention to what gets said day by day.
30:35Is there separation among the quote unquote other guys?
30:38Is it actionable if I'm doing a draft on August 20th?
30:42It's hard to say, but let's see because it's possible because we might have news about Jacobs by then.
30:48So a hundred percent worth paying attention to an absolute complete ridiculous bummer.
30:52Or, you know, it's good object lesson in as much fun as you have talking about these players.
30:57You don't know them as people and who knows what happened.
31:01And like, I'm not trying to cast aspersions one way or the other, but like we do, we do develop what feel
31:08like personal attachments, but they're actually attachments to laundry.
31:11And like, we should just kind of realize that.
31:14Yep. A hundred percent agree. Um, I, I've used Matthew golden as my example of a potential, uh, training camp riser.
31:20I guess that's possible because I mean, Andy brought him up yesterday and his point was now you have three instead of
31:27having five, you know, you have wicks and dobs are gone.
31:31And the other two guys are not exactly between Jaden Reed and Christian Watson, not exactly pictures of health.
31:37Matthew golden. I don't know if you know this, but last year, somebody made it kind of a big deal about the
31:44fact that a hundred somebodies the Packers hadn't taken a first round round first round wide receiver in 79 years or something.
31:51So of course, Matthew golden is going to be a training camp riser.
31:55I said to Andy yesterday, there's absolutely no having watched what he did last year.
32:00There's no world in which I'm going to take that bait.
32:03I don't care how impressed the beat guys are.
32:06I'm not going to follow suit and raise my rank as everyone else maybe does.
32:11I don't know. I'll just miss out on him.
32:14Cause he looked awful. Yeah, he did. I think that love had some of his worst throws with him too.
32:20I remember early on, um, there is a, uh, woefully under thrown ball.
32:24The one time golden did get separation on a deep ball.
32:28So I, I think that was the Thursday night game.
32:31If I recall correctly, uh, very early in the season, but you're right.
32:35Um, I'm not in on the, the increase, the earlier price on golden, even though I've, I may have even uttered the
32:42phrase narrower tree at some point in time. Uh, it is, and it is.
32:46And I think we still have question marks at both tight ends, by the way, both tight ends are currently on the
32:53pop list, not just craft who, you know, has been since March saying he's going to be ready for week one.
33:00But when, what player never said, you know, if a player doesn't say that that's when you're worried, but you don't automatically take it as gospel either.
33:09If that, if that is going to be there, but Musgrave popped up on the pop list to front with an OTA injury.
33:16And they've been really kind of circumspect about the nature of that injury.
33:20So I kind of want to watch to see what happens there too.
33:24So I'll just ask you again on golden. I'm 54 among wide receivers.
33:28I'm just not taking Matthew golden. If he goes any higher than that, I can see him as a, as a 14th
33:35round pick, just a total flyer, but anything more than that, I'm not going to pay it.
33:41Where are you on golden? I am putting, I am putting, I just pulled up wide receivers and I am at 50.
33:48So I'm right there with you. Yeah. So we're not, we're not going to take the bait now craft matters.
33:54That's a big story. It's just, I don't think it needs the long conversation.
33:58He's my tight end three right now because he was pretty great in that window when he started producing like crazy before he got hurt.
34:06But he has no, I mean, go without saying he has no upward mobility at tight end three.
34:12He's got nothing but downward mobility. I'm not panicked over not being available the first week in camp.
34:18And they've said, this is probably more a second half of camp kind of thing.
34:23I'm going to, sure. I'm going to leave him there until ADP time, mid August.
34:27And if he's still not doing anything, he has to come down.
34:31Obviously worth paying attention to, but just sort of goes without saying.
34:35Do you have different thoughts on craft? I just, I just assume that first half of the season will be a little compromised.
34:42Then he'll be, you know, hopefully he's healed by the second half and doing really Tucker craft things, which are really make
34:49this Packers offense a lot more dynamic. So, but I would take Loveland and Warren over craft basically because of this.
34:56Okay. You have them five. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think that's not this defensive position.
35:01I wouldn't imagine. I mean, I'm not a tight end early drafter anyway, but you know, if I'm getting, you know, whatever
35:08the ninth tight end off the board and he happens to be my third ranked guy.
35:13Great. If he goes earlier than I'm willing to take a tight end, I don't care.
35:18I'm going to wait and take a tight end later.
35:21Vikings. Yeah. They were, you know, I would love to say there were tons of answers coming in this, in this training
35:28camp because the Vikings, you can make an argument.
35:31They were the biggest fantasy disaster in the entire NFL last year.
35:35Is that a, I mean, you can come up with others, but we expected a lot.
35:40We thought, oh, sure. JJ McCarthy will be fine.
35:43He was this just in. I'm touching my fictional earpiece.
35:46He was not just fine. Um, so this starts with Calamari as we call him, Kyler Murray, uh, taking over.
35:52We, we presume at quarterback. Do you, do you consider this an actual quarterback battle?
35:57No, I do not. Uh, I know there's been some comments about it being a battle, uh, this week, but no, I don't, I don't.
36:05Although I, I think there's a, we should note an incongruence because we needed, you know, we, we look at the Arizona
36:12Cardinals and McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. For the 12 seconds that he stayed healthy after Murray lost his job, both got unlocked.
36:19Michael Wilson broke out. All we needed was a quarterback that could see the field and throw these certain throws.
36:25So Kyler Murray is supposed to be a rescue over JJ McCarthy because what now, you know, you know, that there's a real problem there.
36:33I think he's better than McCarthy, but I don't know if he's necessarily a panacea to restore all the value back to
36:40Justin Jefferson, all the, uh, and especially to Jordan Addison.
36:44I'm a little worried about that still. Yeah, of course.
36:47That's, that's all you should be worried about with the Vikings.
36:50I just don't know. You can get an answer in training camp.
36:54No, I, is he going to grow three inches?
36:57I don't think so. Um, but yeah, I mean, short guys can sometimes see the field.
37:02Russell Wilson was pretty good in his prime. I don't, I'm not going to blame the height on, on this problem.
37:09It is a problem. I'm with you that we're, nobody's ranking these Vikings as though it was last year.
37:15I don't think, I mean, I guess people might be with Jefferson just because he's such a good player that they're like,
37:22the Vikings have spent an entire winter trying to figure out how to make this never happen again.
37:27And by hook or by crook, no matter what they need to do, they're going to take care of their one guy.
37:34Everybody else might suffer, but they're going to take, and maybe, maybe that's true.
37:39And I, I'm not ranking Jefferson as a first round pick.
37:42I'm putting, he's wide receiver seven for me. So he's a second round pick.
37:47My guess is that's where he goes. Right. Yeah.
37:50Yeah. Jefferson's go into the first beginning of the second barring like some cataclysmic news coming out of camp.
37:56That Murray looks terrible too. The other factor here, Chris is the offensive line was a big mess last year.
38:02It's supposed to be a strength. And it wasn't Darisaw was hurt in and out of the lineup almost all season long.
38:09Uh, you know, they, they, they lost, you know, you know, you look at, at the center position there.
38:15Um, and Ryan Kelly was, you know, dealing with concussions.
38:18He's since retired, you know, anytime a team loses a center mid season, bad things happen.
38:23Uh, you, you see this all the time. And it's, it's one of the, you know, I think we focus a lot
38:30on left tackle and it is, uh, you know, and justifiably, but center is ridiculously important too.
38:36And they didn't have any stability there, uh, last year a number of times as well.
38:41I think this is going to be something I'm just going to watch to see like, is Christian Darisaw doing everything in camp?
38:48You know, cause last year it was just assumed he was going to be fine and going back to all pro status.
38:55And that was not the case. So if Christian Darisaw is not doing everything in training camp, tell me the rank adjustment that you make.
39:03I probably lower Jefferson to mid second round. Um, and that probably means I don't get them.
39:08And it means that I am already too low on the, the running backs anyhow.
39:13Uh, you know, it's not like any, I haven't heard too many partisans for Aaron Jones, uh, Jordan Mason.
39:19I have obviously for the third running back we have DeMond Clayborne.
39:23I know that's on Andy's list as well. Uh, but you know, and I, I understand why, cause we're looking for something
39:30new, but at the same time, I, I, it might steer me away from even using a lottery ticket on that later on.
39:37I can't draw straight lines with offensive lines like that.
39:40I, you know, we're going to have Ross Tucker on next week to do his typical, my sacrifice of Ross Tucker every
39:47year that I don't think he knows is a sacrifice, but, um, you know, he comes on and says, these are the
39:54offensive lines I think are going to be the best.
39:58And these are the ones I think are going to be the worst.
40:02And he sometimes gets them right. He's better than I am.
40:05Of course. It's just, he's also not right because it's just really hard to know.
40:10Right. And so it's really hard for me to, it's really hard to know what, what truths are out there health wise too.
40:17And it's so important. And sometimes it just changes and then, you know, it changes in season and we, there's nothing you can do about that.
40:26Yeah. So I don't know that those things are going to change my ranks.
40:30Um, Jefferson for me is like 17 overall standard.
40:33Uh, but, but 13 PPR. So I see where people are coming from.
40:37He's the one guy. I'm just like, this is maybe the best overall player in the NFL.
40:42It stinks that he has situation. I'm trying to make situation problems matter as little as possible when it comes to one
40:49of the truly great players in the league, but going through the process of having him last year, you just have to
40:56be try to temper your enthusiasm just a little bit.
41:00Um, and it got worse. That's the thing. It, it, you know, like, Oh, you know, McCarthy's going to get a little bit better.
41:07He never got better. That was the problem. It's just this, the whole season got worse and worse for Jefferson as the season progressed.
41:15I'll quick break to thank ZBiotics for sponsoring makers of pre-alcohol, which is the first genetically engineered probiotic designed to tackle rough mornings after drinking alcohol.
41:23I simply do not drink alcohol without it. I, if I know I'm headed out for a couple of beers, it's just an easy reach.
41:31I take a little vial. It's a little tiny glass vial, swallow it down.
41:35That's my first drink of the night. Pre-alcohol is.
41:38And if I do that and then enjoy responsibly, I just feel way better in the morning than I have any right to.
41:46It is science. When you drink alcohol, it gets converted in your gut to a toxic by-product.
41:51Pre-alcohol from Z Biotics breaks this by-product down before it can make you feel bad.
41:56Do I understand exactly how that happens? I do not.
41:59But it works for me. And you have no risk to try it because if you find that it doesn't work for you, they will refund you.
42:07No questions asked. Show me a better deal. August, almost here.
42:11Fantasy drafts, almost here. Can't recommend it enough. We are back with Eric Jefferson.
42:15Oops. I mean, Jeff Erickson. And if you knew the number of times that we sing him that song at our poker
42:22game, you would know a lot of times because we definitely sing him that song a lot.
42:28We're still talking about the Vikings, Jeff. And we really only kind of said, and I agree, you said this, I agree,
42:35that a year after we were drafting a lot of Vikings, this year there's no Vikings that will be drafted to be fantasy starters.
42:42I presume, except for Justin Jefferson, about whom we spoke before the break.
42:47So now you're in the territory of a hundred players who people will say, oh, just take him as a backup.
42:53He can't screw up your team too bad. Yeah, that's great.
42:57You're saying that about everybody on every team. I don't know who to take.
43:01I would love to be a Jordan Addison enthusiast.
43:04He was a flag player last year when I didn't think the Vikings were a total disaster.
43:09And Juwan Jennings now joins the Vikings and he's been a fantasy killer for a long time.
43:15He takes away stuff. He's a pro. I mean, opponents hate him, apparently.
43:19Can we learn enough about the Addison Jennings dynamic in training camp to make meaningful changes to your receiver ranks?
43:25I don't think so. I think Addison has a specific skill set.
43:29I think Jennings has a specific skill set. Maybe you hear, oh, Jennings is spending every practice with Kyler Murray afterward.
43:36Okay. No, I probably wouldn't change things. No, it's a nice little story.
43:40Yeah, exactly. They're playing more Call of Duty together.
43:43Okay, cheap shot. Okay, I had to take it.
43:46But no, I don't think there's a whole lot there that can change things.
43:50I think negative news would maybe change things more than positive news, if that makes sense.
43:55Like, you know. It does. What kind of negative news?
43:58You know, Addison's just not clicking with Murray. You know, they seem to be on the wrong page.
44:04He's underthrowing Addison all the time. You know, Addison's just doing cardio in this offense.
44:09You know, things like that. That might change things a little bit.
44:13But, again, I don't think it's like incintilla of movement there at most.
44:17I don't think you're going to get a lot of information here.
44:21And it could turn out one of a few different ways.
44:24They could both turn out useless for fantasy. One could, you know, elevate above the other.
44:29They do do different things. I mean, Addison is a speed guy and a very polished route guy.
44:35And Jennings is the opposite of a speed guy, but a very polished, I'm willing to do anything guy.
44:41And I'll get blasted to go over the middle and put my life on the line and take a huge hit to make a catch.
44:49And there's a role for both of those guys in this offense.
44:53I'm going to rank Addison higher, barring injury, just because I think one thing in fantasy we know, especially with the receivers
45:00these days, is that everybody's good for four catches for 40 yards in any given week.
45:05And I need the one who half the time has a chance to make the one big play that changes the box score.
45:12And I think whereas Jennings has done some high volume games in some situations where he's been, you know, valorous and scored
45:19some touchdowns, Addison's the one who can quote unquote go deep.
45:22100% agree. I think Jennings is the classic. If you need seven yards, I'll get you eight.
45:28If you need 10 yards, I'll get you eight.
45:31I think he's that guy. And, you know, sure-handed, tough over the middle.
45:35All those things that you said, every once in a while he's going to draw a team that has, does not have three corners that can cover.
45:43And when that happens, he's going to be, he'll be pretty good.
45:47Yeah. So then you actually mentioned the backfield. Now we're to the point where Aaron Jones, you know, really felt like he
45:54was probably going to be out of Minnesota. We talked about that a lot in the winter on the show.
46:01And then he took a substantial haircut to stay there for probably one more season.
46:05They still have Jordan Mason who got one heck of a chance last year.
46:10But, like, aren't we unfairly punishing Jordan Mason for not being able to, what's the right metaphor here?
46:15Uh, eat the poop sandwich. Like, I feel like, yes, the Vikings offense was completely broken and nothing worked.
46:21And the offensive line was a total disaster. And I recognize all that.
46:26And so they've, thank goodness they've changed quarterbacks and they've gotten some new offensive linemen.
46:30And I'm willing to make a leap of faith that Justin Jefferson can still be a second-round pick.
46:36But that Jordan Mason guy, screw that guy. He blew it last year.
46:40Like, that feels harsh. It does, considering he did exactly what he did the year before with the Niners.
46:46I mean, there's really no change in what he did there.
46:50Slightly less efficient rushing, but still way more efficient than Aaron Jones.
46:54He's not a pass catcher. He's not a pass pro guy.
46:57He doesn't play on third down. So, okay, that's not going to change.
47:01I don't, I think that's why the Niners were willing to move on from him at the same time.
47:07The same positives and negatives about Jordan Mason still exist.
47:10Nothing's changed. He is, so we should just, we're having two conversations at once here.
47:15On the one hand, I think we're both going to say that there's not too much news that's going to happen in August with the Vikings.
47:23That's going to change our assessments. I have Aaron Jones, 38, Jordan Mason, 41, and Damond Claiborne can go pound sand.
47:30I don't, not draft, we'll talk about him in a second.
47:34I don't imagine anything that's going to, barring one of them getting hurt, I don't imagine I'm going to fall in love with either guy.
47:42But I, kind of the second conversation I feel like we're having is Aaron Jones still looked really good, but just absolutely is not trustable health-wise.
47:50Something is going to happen. I'm just, how many years in a row do we need this?
47:55He's an older player. That's what's going to happen.
47:58And that's why he's low. And it feels weird to be really low on Jordan Mason by way of punishment saying, you got your chance last year.
48:07You didn't take it. I'm moving on to the flavor, the next flavor.
48:11That's Damond Claiborne. When we all acknowledge it was an untenable situation.
48:15Jordan Mason, absolutely a passenger when it comes to being a great fantasy player.
48:19He's not a great NFL player. He needs a good environment to turn into a fantasy, regular fantasy starter, somebody you're really excited to have.
48:27But that can happen. We're acknowledging that could happen for Jefferson.
48:30Jefferson would be more the bus driver than the bus passenger.
48:34But if it turns around again and suddenly we think positively about the Vikings again, I'm going to go out and say it.
48:41My rank doesn't reflect it, but Mason is the one I would trust to reflect that maybe most in that backfield.
48:48I agree. I agree. I'll say this. My brain resides in PPR land.
48:52That's my default thought process. And Mason gets hurt by that.
48:55Period. And that's not going to change. And that's also why people want to manifest Claiborne.
49:01Because they know that they want to pivot from Jones when he gets hurt.
49:05And they also think that, well, okay, Claiborne could be that guy.
49:09I don't think Claiborne could be the guy that gets 15 carries though, too.
49:13I just don't think that's possible either. So I think we're kind of stuck in this sort of thing there.
49:20There's going to be a week where Claiborne gets five catches for like 60 yards.
49:24And we're going to be all enamored with that.
49:27And then he's going to get one catch for two yards in the next week.
49:32Yeah. I'm not. I mean, I'll just square the circle on Mason to say, is he slow?
49:37He is. Is he like a pretty good power back?
49:41Is he 230 pounds? Like, if you're willing to place just a couple of side bets in a late round of a
49:48fantasy draft on Kevin O'Connell figuring it out, on Kyler Murray being better, on everything just not being so oppressive, I think Mason is your bet.
49:56Because he's the goal line guy. He's the touchdown maker.
49:59He's the grind him out at the end of a game dude.
50:03He's the one who could handle the big workloads without Aaron Jones.
50:07DeMond Claiborne, I don't know from a hole in the ground, nothing against the guy.
50:11All I know is he's teeny tiny. And now, you know, it's the curse of Achan.
50:16Everyone is coming into the league at that size.
50:19Everyone goes, well, I know traditionally it doesn't work, but there's this one guy.
50:24It might just work for us. Exactly. It might just work for us.
50:28I'm not going to buy any camp hype on DeMond Claiborne.
50:31He made Andy's list of nonsense August risers. I feel like that's exactly right.
50:36I gave this list on yesterday's show, but I'll do it again.
50:40I quickly scrolled in the almanac to DeMond Claiborne.
50:42I did write him in a profile. He's number 75.
50:46The comp I gave him was Brashard Smith. Remember, we were doing the exact same thing with Brashard Smith last year.
50:52I mean, fast guy, converted wide receiver. Sure, Andy Reid might use him as a fun...
50:57No, no, he didn't. The list of guys who fit Claiborne's just size.
51:025'10", 188. Dre Archer, Chris Rainey, Naheem Hines, Leon Washington, Garrett Wolfe, Chad Morton.
51:06I mean, I remember the hype for all those guys to say, well, they're really fast.
51:11And they're kind of just wide receivers. And they're going to be in the slot every play.
51:16And so there's 50 catches there for them. And it just doesn't happen.
51:21And A-Chan, if anything, has proven that the reason A-Chan became A-Chan is because he never fell into that bucket of like,
51:28well, he's just a really fast receiver. No, they made him to a feature back.
51:32And that's crazy. And he's amazing for being able to do it.
51:36But unless DeMond Claiborne becomes a feature back, he's not going to be useful for fantasy.
51:41Yeah, I'd agree. Not much more to add to that there.
51:45Hey, he's picking up pass pro in training camp.
51:48Okay, great. Trivian Henderson was too. And we know how that worked out in the regular season.
51:53That's a great point. I'm sorry to have ranted about Claiborne.
51:56I had a whole day to rev up because Andy and I talked about him yesterday.
52:02And Andy agreed. It's not like Andy and I were 100.
52:05Andy brought him up to say, this is the kind of player who is going to wind up getting taken in the
52:1210th round by the time we get to late August.
52:15Because there's going to be no news about Aaron Jones.
52:18There's going to be no news about Jordan Mason.
52:21And everyone's going to be like, well, there's this other guy.
52:25And I hate those first two guys. So sure, with the 100th overall pick, I'm taking DeBond Claiborne.
52:30We're not going to do that. One more team.
52:33And it's crazy that they're the last team we're talking about.
52:37I'm taking them in order of finish from last year.
52:40And as it turned out, the Lions actually did finish last in that division.
52:44I read Jameer Gibbs' profile off the top of the show.
52:48He now, obviously, with no David Montgomery, he becomes, that is to say, Gibbs, a no doubt.
52:53I mean, you'd say top two, right? I have him at one.
52:57It's totally understandable to have Bajan at one. And are there going to be people out there who have Gibbs any lower?
53:04Unless they're doing the wide receiver thing, which we're not going to talk about those people.
53:09Are there people out there who are going, Jameer Gibbs should be three or four or five among running backs?
53:16No, there are not. There might be the random McCaffrey partisan.
53:19He could be the 1.1. He could also. Yeah.
53:22And that is definitely true. But I'm scared to draft McCaffrey.
53:25But this isn't about McCaffrey. It's about the Lions.
53:28So, yeah. Top two. Yes, let's go. He is top two.
53:32Amon Roth going to be a first round pick.
53:35I don't feel like. I mean, we can talk about Jamison Williams a little bit.
53:39But it's funny how my perspective on wide receivers have changed so much.
53:43I don't know that Camp is going to tell us anything about Jamison Williams.
53:48But we can have kind of a beyond Camp conversation about him if you're interested in it.
53:53Like, I thought his usage got much more interesting in the second half of last year when Dan Campbell took over play calling.
54:01And it felt like the promise that we've been given all this time about how this guy does know how to run a dig route.
54:09You've just never seen it before. Suddenly he was able to run a dig route.
54:13That was great. He's still a primary speed threat.
54:16And I have the little part of my brain that always wants to call them Deshaun Jackson and reject them.
54:23Because, cool, their overall fantasy point totals look good.
54:25But it's only useful four times a year. And the rest of the time you're just chasing the useful week and they do nothing.
54:33And if that's what a modern day player is, I just don't want a part of that.
54:38But with wide receiver as spread out as it's ever been and no sign of it stopping, that guy is starting to get more valuable.
54:46Plus, Jamison Williams can also now do maybe some other things too.
54:50I am way more interested in drafting him this year than ever before.
54:54I am too. I think that I'm curious to see what a Drew Petzig offense is going to be a little bit there.
55:02Clearly, the John Morton offense was something that needed changing there.
55:05And I'm acutely aware of the mercurial nature of Williams last year.
55:09Two games, complete zeros, just zero on the line there.
55:12And one of those games, the Tampa Bay game, only 29 routes run, no targets even in that game.
55:18That was wild to see. Yeah, you need a little bit more of that.
55:23And yes, the second half was far better about that.
55:26And that's kind of washed away the bitter memories of the middle part of the season there for us.
55:32But again, like you said, training camp's not going to change that that much.
55:36I don't think it's going to change it for...
55:39Go ahead. Sorry, go ahead. No, you go ahead.
55:42I don't think it's going to change things for Isaac Tesla either.
55:46I think... Yeah. Okay, great. Khalif Raymond's gone. Okay, noted.
55:49Let's move on. Yeah. Yeah, Tesla made Andy's list too.
55:52He had so many NFC North guys on that list.
55:55But the nonsense riser, the based on... If it's an injury, great.
55:59I'm going to care what Isaac Tesla does, but otherwise...
56:02And I'll take... Like, I was impressed by the very limited film.
56:06It's the kind of player that makes sense to take a 14th round pick on to just see what if, what if
56:13the whole Apple card has been changed? Your point is about Drew Petsig is exactly right.
56:18Like, cool. I'm very interested in what that offense means too, but I'm not going to get that answer from preseason games.
56:25I'm not going to get that... From joint practices, simply not going to happen.
56:30So yeah. Where do you have Jameson Williams on your receiver rank?
56:33I hope you didn't close the file again. I was on the running backs.
56:38Just have to move over to the... Sorry. ...receivers.
56:41And they've got him at 25. 25. So I have him at 16 standard, 18 PPR.
56:46Again, I don't look at ADP, and maybe you're extremely low on him, or maybe I'm extremely high on him.
56:52I'm surprised to feel this way. Again, like, it's that thing we talked about off the top where you go, oh, I didn't mean to take a stand.
57:01Yeah. I think he's in a bucket there where the differences are pretty small though too.
57:06So... The bucket is 50 guys is the problem.
57:09Yeah. Yeah. I agree. We're not going to have a big fight over like Emeka Abuka or Jamison.
57:15Williams, who are between five and ten spots different on my receiver list, but I don't know.
57:20They're all really good players who have great opportunities and interesting systems, and you're kind of just taking your choice.
57:26And maybe I'm finding myself in my old age leaning a little toward the guy who can do the 180-yard play just
57:33a little more than I used to because it's at least a slight distinguisher from...
57:38I mean, Emeka Abuka did zero games too. You know, they all do.
57:42That's because they all play so many damn receivers that it's really tough.
57:46So, I don't know. I am higher on Abuka for what it's worth.
57:51Just... Yeah. But I understand why. A lot of conversation.
57:54But yeah. Sure. There are some people that are really high on Abuka.
57:58That is some... Doing early drafts, I've seen a little bit of that noise.
58:02So, that's another conversation for another day. No, but it's interesting.
58:06And of course, you know, it just keeps worth perennially mentioning there is no ADP.
58:11There's no one ADP anymore. There used to be.
58:13There just isn't. It depends on where you play.
58:16Absolutely. Because the default ranks... The default ranks on your game determine...
58:20Like, the thing that got determined when... You know, like in April or in May or something at ESPN where I used
58:27to be in that meeting, you know, that determines default ranks.
58:31And default ranks don't change as much as they should.
58:34And so, the next name that comes up for...
58:37You know, this is who was highest on the default rank list.
58:40That guy's ADP gets higher on that platform. It just does.
58:44And so, like, it's tough. That's why it doesn't matter that much.
58:48That's why I don't care about ADP that much.
58:51I sort of just want to have what I think.
58:54You know, I'd sort of want to just say what I think.
58:58And apparently, Jeff, it turns out I'm a massive fan of Jameson Williams.
59:02Huge. Huge. Massive. I know. And you've been pounding the table all summer long for it.
59:07I saw it. I'm loose guy. The pounding just began right now.
59:11Nobody... Can you hear that? Like, this segment is...
59:13It's Don breaking over Marblehead. Suddenly, Harris realized that he's massively into Jameson Williams.
59:18We talked about Tucker Craft and paying attention to that health situation.
59:22Sam Laporta didn't have a serious injury. Although, as somebody who has ruptured discs in his back, it's not unserious.
59:28But he apparently is in better shape. I think, once again, whatever you think of Laporta, August isn't going to change it.
59:35But he's someone else that... We're paying attention to everybody's health, but he qualifies as someone.
59:40Let's pay a little extra attention. That was my one note, actually, was pay attention to Laporta's health.
59:46Because I think there was a before and after difference when they lost him.
59:50There wasn't much behind him. And it changed their offense considerably, I thought.
59:54Yeah, and if you want to make an argument that it wasn't Dan Campbell play-calling that changed Jameson Williams' fate, that it
60:01was rather no Sam Laporta, that might make me take back the pounding of the table.
60:06I might just be wrong. Just gently tap the table every once in a while instead.
60:11Too many mouths to feed. Too many mouths to feed.
60:15I don't know if there's anything else. The Lions really are one of those camps that kind of is what it is.
60:22I don't know how you're going to really come to massive changes.
60:25Other than an injury to Jameson Williams, I'm asking myself right now, is there a way for me to...
60:31Let me ask you this question. You rank for baseball.
60:35I don't. And then, obviously, you great ranker for football, too.
60:38That experience that I just had in real time, people heard on the podcast, finding out that you're high on a player
60:45you never thought you were high on before. That you were always low on.
60:50I've had Jameson Williams as a bust before on the show.
60:53When you find that out, whenever that is, that you're higher on somebody than the market that you never thought you would be, that's the feeling, right?
61:02You go, oh, I could probably lower him a little bit and look a little less like a docious.
61:08Right. There you go. That's the thing we were talking about at the top of the show.
61:13A hundred percent. It's the opposite direction. What it should do is make you dive into the player a little bit more.
61:20And say, okay, why? Why do I have him here?
61:23And for baseball, I'll tell you, it's even harder because I'll do a set of projections.
61:28And I do the player's projection independent of his rank.
61:32And then I'd add the formula, which uses the projections to help me at the ranks.
61:37Like, oh, he's 40 spots higher than I thought he'd be.
61:40Oh, okay. There's a lot more players in baseball.
61:43And there's, you know, it's a different layer of dynamics too, with the Roto style scoring and things of that nature.
61:50Like, oh, I don't, you know, I don't want that, but maybe this is telling me I need to take more of him this year.
61:58And that works sometimes. And then there's other times it's like, oh, Jeff, you're just a big dummy and you just had it wrong.
62:05You just didn't make, yeah, you gave him 12 wins instead of nine.
62:09And that, that those three wins matter. But, you know, that, that's, that's a whole different conversation.
62:15But still, yeah, it forces you to kind of make that decision.
62:18Like, if you're abnormally high or abnormally low. Okay.
62:21But why? And let's find out why. Is there a bias in there?
62:25Is there a good reason? Or is it just that this is the number that it spat out?
62:31And it's like, oh, okay. Well, that maybe the number seems right to me.
62:36Okay. I'm going to get more of him this year.
62:39Well, I don't have any projections and I don't have an engine that spits out ranks.
62:44I don't have, it's just me saying, who would I take next?
62:48And I've done the work. Like nobody can accuse me not have in the middle of probably June.
62:53I sat there for part of a day and watched Jamison Williams.
62:57I watched all, everything he did is 65 catches.
63:00I think I watched them all. And like, I didn't come away thinking, my God, this guy's reinventing the position.
63:06He's unbelievable. He's amazing. But like the best part about what, what I remember seeing was it wasn't just deep balls in the second half of the year.
63:15And it could turn out that that was strictly a Laporta thing.
63:19He's a Laporta merchant, as they say. And I'm going to wind up being wrong.
63:24But yeah, I'm going to try to resist since I have done the work.
63:28I'm going to try to resist the temptation to do the thing that we all are tempted to do.
63:34I, I, as much as everybody like, Oh, I'd rather not look like that much of a donkey over this player.
63:41Maybe I'll stay above ADP, but just go a little lower safely.
63:45Like I'm trying to try not to do that.
63:48Um, all right. Well, fun conversation. Thank you for helping me work through these teams.
63:52You can find Jeff at rotowire.com. I would encourage that you do that.
63:57You can also follow him wherever you follow people on social media, and you can feel free to wish him a bon
64:04voyage because right after this, he's headed out for an Easterly vacation.
64:07He's going to my stomping grounds. We're not going to get too specific because we don't want people tracking him down in
64:14hotels, but I hope you have a wonderful trip, my friend.
64:18Thank you. My pleasure. And looking forward to seeing you at a cross poker table sometime soon.
64:23And thank you so much for listening. So good to talk to Jeff.
64:27I talked to him a lot in real life, but amazing to have him on the show as well.
64:33So nice to be able to do this with your friends.
64:37Let's thank the sponsors as well. We were sponsored today by Z Biotics and Wild Grain and Trust and Will.
64:43And if you were interested in anything I had to say about today's sponsors, you can find their information in today's show notes.
64:51All of the current sponsors are listed at harrisfootball.com.
64:53When you're able to, you know, find a need and maybe, you know, support a sponsor that fills that need, that is wonderful.
65:01That's the best of all worlds. I wouldn't want anybody just supporting a sponsor and they didn't want the thing.
65:07But if you do have the means and a need and you can pick a sponsor, that's how the whole thing happens.
65:14And you do a wonderful job of that because obviously a lot of these sponsors keep coming back.
65:20So if you want to give them a try, I'm going to have some wild grain croissant egg sandwich as soon as I'm done here.
65:28I'm really looking forward to that. So thanks very much to those companies for sponsoring.
65:32That's going to do it for this episode. Coming up on Friday, the final July show, the final training camp preview show
65:39will be into full-time mode as of Monday of next week.
65:43The Friday show is going to be a great one, though.
65:46We've got one more division left. That's the AFC North.
65:50We're going to talk through those teams with our buddy Matt Harmon from Yahoo and Reception Perception.
65:55That's going to be a great one as well.
65:58Until then, thanks again so much for listening. Your hat is awesome.
66:02You're awesome for wearing it. I will talk to you on Friday.
66:06The Harris Football Podcast's opening theme is Under the Gun by Apex Manor.
66:10The closing theme is Say Yes by The Wellspring.
66:13Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and never miss an episode.
More episodes from Harris Fantasy Football Podcast
Ladd McConkey Profile & Previewing AFC West
Jul 24, 2026
Drake Maye & Josh Allen & Previewing AFC East
Jul 17, 2026
Previewing AFC South & Almanac Stuff
Jul 10, 2026
Welcome Back - Previewing NFC South
Jul 7, 2026